Richard Norton Smith, the high-profile director of Kansas University’s Dole Institute of Politics, is first in line to lead the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum.

A spokeswoman for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich confirmed Wednesday that Smith was the state’s first choice for leading the museum and library, a $115 million facility under construction in Springfield, Ill. And Mike Marshall, press secretary to former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, said Dole expected Smith would leave KU.

Smith did not return repeated calls Wednesday from the Journal-World, and his assistant, Erik Nelson, turned away a reporter at Smith’s Dole Institute office.

“He’s not talking to any media today,” Nelson said. “His phone’s been ringing off the hook.”

Nelson declined to comment further.

Marshall said Dole planned to release a statement about the situation today.

“I’m not certain the Lincoln thing is final,” Marshall said. “I think he’s expected to leave, and that’s expected to come through.”

Abby Ottenhoff, spokeswoman for Blagojevich, said Smith’s “background and experience” made him right for the Lincoln job.

Smith has directed the Eisenhower, Reagan, Ford and Hoover presidential libraries, makes frequent appearances on C-SPAN and “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” and has written several prize-winning books.

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“We have been talking to him, and we are excited about the possibility of him coming,” Ottenhoff said. “But nothing is final yet. We’re still in the discussion stages.”

Steve Neal, in a Chicago Sun-Times column Wednesday, said Blagojevich was recruiting the presidential historian, in part, to counter accusations of political cronyism there. Neal said Blagojevich also had contacted Smith to provide input on appointments to the library’s board and the future of the library and museum.

Robert H. Newtson, who was chief of staff to former Gov. George H. Ryan, diverted funds to create the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Center for Government Studies at the University of Illinois. Ryan and his staff also were accused of attempting to get unqualified staff members hired at the library.

Previous interest

This isn’t the first time Smith has been considered for the Lincoln position. The accusations of political jockeying led him to withdraw his name from consideration in early 2001, just months before he was hired at KU.

“Anyone who cares about American history, anyone who cares about the American presidency, would be interested (in the job),” Smith told the State Journal-Register in Springfield at the time. “I was hugely flattered to even be considered in light of the scope of the project. There is nothing anywhere else remotely like (the Lincoln library/museum).”

But he said at the time there was a “very real risk that the library might not enjoy the kind of scholarly independence it will require to establish its own credibility” because of the political conflicts.

KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway said Wednesday that he was unaware of talk of Smith’s impending departure. But Hemenway said he wasn’t surprised Smith’s name was mentioned as a top candidate.

“Richard Norton Smith is the kind of person that is in great demand,” Hemenway said.

Hemenway said KU would do “everything we can do to encourage him to stay.”

“We’ve talked about what KU can do to make his situation as attractive as can be,” he said, but declined to elaborate.

Past indicators

Burdett Loomis, chairman of KU’s political science department, said that he didn’t know if Smith would leave for Illinois but that he wouldn’t be surprised if Smith accepted the job.

Many at KU have speculated Smith would see the $11.3 million, 28,000-square-foot Dole Institute building through its construction and dedication — which occurred with much fanfare in July — and then leave for another job.

Smith has complained that the university’s bureaucracy has been frustrating and that he hasn’t had much time to write his biography of Nelson Rockefeller, which is due to his publisher in 2005.

Yet in July, Smith insisted speculation was false about any quick departure. In an interview just before the institute’s dedication, he said he planned to stay for the long term.

“I have no plans to do otherwise,” he said. “My plans are really going to be determined by the level at which the university and Endowment Association commit themselves to securing the institute’s long-term future. I plan on being here and holding people to those commitments.”

Smith had said the institute needed an endowment of at least $20 million to function properly, or about $16 million more than its most recently reported amount.

Smith had short tenures at the Reagan and Eisenhower libraries, leading Loomis to point to an established pattern.

“I don’t say it in a malicious way at all, I just think Richard Norton Smith’s history is one of taking on new challenges,” Loomis said. “I think the Lincoln library is an incredible opportunity. It’s going to be a very big deal. I think it’s very understandable if he’s interested in that. If anybody is in the least bit surprised about this, then they weren’t paying attention.”

Staff writer Scott Rothschild contributed to this report.